Current Affairs GK 11th to 13th Februrary 2024

1. SC STRIKES DOWN ELECTORAL BONDS SCHEME –

• Recently, the Supreme Court(SC) struck down the electoral bonds scheme that allows anonymous donations to political parties, citing it as unconstitutional.
• SC asserted that transparency regarding funding to political parties is crucial for informed electoral decisions, affirming that the scheme infringes upon the right to information as enshrined in Article 19(1)(a).
• Electoral bonds are money instruments that act as promissory notes or bearer bonds that can be purchased by individuals or companies in India. They are issued specifically for the contribution of funds to the political parties.
• The SBI is the only bank authorized to issue and encash electoral bonds. The donations made under this scheme enjoyed 100% tax exemption.
• SC has directed the State Bank of India to stop issuing electoral bonds immediately and submit all the details to the Election Commission by 6th March, 2024.

2. RECENTLY, THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE OF INDIA UNVEILED A LIFE-SIZE STATUE OF THE LATE GENERAL BIPIN RAWAT (1958-2021) –

• Bipin Rawat was born in Pauri, Uttarakhand on 16th March 1958. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA) and the Indian Military Academy (IMA).

Military Career Highlights-

• Served in various capacities including General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-C) Southern Command, and General Staff Officer Grade 2 at the Military Operations Directorate.
• Commanded a multinational brigade in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force.
• Became Vice-Chief of Army Staff before assuming the role of Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

Key Achievements-

• Played a significant role in reducing militancy in the Northeast. Instrumental in planning the 2016 surgical strikes across the Line of Control into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which was a response to terrorist activities.

3. THE ELECTIONS FOR 56 SEATS IN THE RAJYA SABHA ARE SET TO TAKE PLACE ON FEBRUARY 27 –

• Major political parties have released the list of their candidates for Rajya Sabha election. It is watched closely as it comes close to the upcoming Lok Sabha Election.
• Rajya Sabha is a permanent House and cannot be dissolved. To ensure continuity, one-third of its members retire after every second year, under Article 83(1) of the Constitution, and “biennial elections” are held to fill these vacancies.
• The term of a member is six years. Out of the 245 members, 12 are nominated by the President and 233 are representatives of the States and Union territories of Delhi and Puducherry.
• Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by MLAs through an indirect election.
• The Fourth Schedule to the Constitution provides for allocation of Rajya Sabha seats to the states and Union Territories, on the basis of the population of each state.
• The Rajya Sabha polls have a system of open ballots, but it is a limited form of openness.
• As a measure to check rampant cross-voting, there is a system of each party MLA showing his or her marked ballots to the party’s authorized agent (called Whip), before they are put into the ballot box.
• Showing a marked ballot to anyone other than one’s own party’s authorized agent will render the vote invalid. Not showing the ballot to the authorized agent will also mean that the vote cannot be counted.
• Independent candidates are barred from showing their ballots to anyone.

4. HOME MINISTER AMIT SHAH RECENTLY SAID THAT THE CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT, WILL BE IMPLEMENTED BEFORE THE LOK SABHA ELECTION 2024 –

• The CAA was first introduced in 2016 and went through several stages in Parliament. It was passed in 2019 and amended the Citizenship Act.
• The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. The CAA intends to make it easier for persecuted people from neighbouring countries to become Indian citizens.
• This act amended the Citizenship Act, 1955.The CAA is for illegal migrants who entered India before December 31, 2014.
• It covers migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Specifically, it benefits those of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian faiths. CAA does not grant such eligibility to Muslims from these countries.
• Under the Citizenship Act, 1955, an illegal migrant is a foreigner who enters the country without valid travel documents like a passport and visa, or enters with valid documents, but stays beyond the permitted time period.
• The Amendment exempts the members of the six communities from any criminal case under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport Act, 1920. The two Acts (Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport Act, 1920) specify punishment for entering the country illegally and staying here on expired visas and permits.
• Under The Citizenship Act, 1955, one of the requirements for citizenship by naturalisation is that the applicant must have resided in India during the last 12 months, as well as for 11 of the previous 14 years.
• The amendment relaxes the second requirement from 11 years to 5 years as a specific condition for applicants belonging to these six religions (Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian) and the aforementioned three countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan).

5. ISRO TO LAUNCH INSAT-3DS ON FEB 17 TO IMPROVE FORECASTS-

• INSAT or the Indian National Satellite System is a series of multipurpose Geo-stationary satellites. They are launched by ISRO to satisfy the telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology, and search and rescue needs of India.
• INSAT is the largest domestic communication system in the Asia Pacific Region. It is the third in a series of INSAT 3D satellites.
• Its predecessors were INSAT-3D (launched in 2013), and INSAT-3DR (2016).It is designed for enhanced meteorological observations and monitoring of land and ocean surfaces for weather forecasting and disaster warning.
• INSAT-3DS mission is to be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

6. FARMERS PROTEST HIGHLIGHTS: WHY FARMERS ARE PROTESTING AGAIN, AND WHAT ARE THEIR DEMANDS? –

• These forums gave a call of “Delhi Chalo” to remind the government of the promises to farmers. The Minimum Support Price (MSP) assurance is one of the main issues and farm unions are demanding a statutory status to MSP.
• A government delegation has held negotiations with the protesting farmers, but the talks have not yielded results yet.

The Government Had Brought Three Farm Laws in 2020

• The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act: Provides for setting up a mechanism allowing the farmers to sell their farm produce outside the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs).
• The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act: Allows farmers to do contract farming and market their produce freely.
• The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act: Fees items such as foodgrains, pulses, edible oils and onion for trade except in extraordinary (read crisis) situations.

Farmer’s Demands in Recent Farmers Protest 2024-

• Legal Status to MSP: Enactment of legislation conferring mandatory legal status to MSP based on the MS Swaminathan Commission’s recommendation. Some of the other demands include:
• Debt Waiver: Full debt waiver for farmers and labourers;
• Implementation of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013: with provisions for written consent from farmers before acquisition, and compensation at four times the collector rate;
• Withdrawal from WTO: India should withdraw from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and freeze all free trade agreements;
• Pension support: Pensions for farmers and farm labourers;
• Employment under MGNREGA: 200 (instead of 100) days’ employment under MGNREGA per year, daily wage of Rs 700, and scheme should be linked with farming;